Fluoxetine can it get you high

Prozac addiction has been associated with violent thoughts, behaviors and suicidal tendencies. Prozac is not a drug that is studied for addiction or abuse. Therefore, there are no formal statistics presented for Prozac addiction. Prozac is considered to be non-addictive, but a Prozac addiction can be created. Prozac affects the central nervous system and the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor in the brain.

Someone abusing Prozac is often trying to increase this mood elevation. By abusing the drug, a Prozac addiction can develop. Someone who has a Prozac addiction will exhibit several warning signs. While a physical dependency is rare, the psychological Prozac addiction can occur. This may occur because the abuser has become addicted to abusing the drug and is trying to get some sort of increased energy, talkative, mood elevated reaction.

Some of the signs of Prozac abuse are:. A Prozac addiction does present some negative side effects. Although Prozac is not considered physically addictive, there are still some unwanted physical reactions when someone with a Prozac addiction abruptly stops taking the drug. There are psychological reactions and social side effects related to abusing Prozac. Only in recent years have researchers begun to examine the effects of long-term use of fluoxetine as well as its withdrawal symptoms.

A study conducted in New Zealand examined patients who had been taking fluoxetine for two or more years. Half the participants were given gradually tapered doses of fluoxetine, and the other half were given a consistent amount of the drug. The researchers followed the participants over eighteen months. The study found that those taking the tapered doses experienced withdrawal symptoms.

In some cases, these were so severe that patients had to begin taking the drug again, even when the drug was tapered gradually over months. While fluoxetine is not considered to be an addictive drug, the medication does make changes to the chemistry of the brain that cause people who take it to become dependent on it. Long-term drug dependence is not the ideal situation for most people and many who take antidepressants like fluoxetine attempt to decrease their dosages on their own or stop taking their medication entirely.

If fluoxetine is stopped abruptly, or if the dose is decreased too rapidly, however, the following symptoms of withdrawal may occur:. Tingling or prickliness of the skin 1. The symptoms of withdrawal that occur when the use of an antidepressant is ended are referred to by medical professionals as discontinuation syndrome.

These symptoms for other antidepressants are similar to the withdrawal symptoms for Prozac listed above but may occur in varying degrees of severity. Some medications cause more severe symptoms of discontinuation syndrome than others, primarily due to how quickly the drugs remove themselves from the body. On average, symptoms of discontinuation syndrome last for 1 to 2 weeks but may be present for up to a year, 9 depending on the medication and on how long the person has taken that medication.

In fact, fluoxetine is often used as a treatment for discontinuation syndrome when a person is ending the use of another SSRI medication. This is concerning when viewed in light of the research results mentioned above, which indicate that fluoxetine carries the same risk of discontinuation syndrome.

Since fluoxetine is often used to treat long-term mental health conditions such as OCD, discontinuation syndrome may be more severe for these patients than for patients who use Prozac in the short term to manage withdrawal symptoms. Still, caution should be taken when discontinuing fluoxetine, and ending the use of any antidepressant should be done under the supervision of a physician. The types of treatment used to end dependence on fluoxetine depend on the circumstances surrounding how the medication is used.

For people who abuse Prozac or take it in an attempt to self-medicate, treatment should focus on any other substances that are abused along with fluoxetine and on the conditions that people are attempting to treat. For example, a person taking fluoxetine as an appetite suppressant should receive treatment for the eating disorder associated with this use of the medication.

People who use fluoxetine and alcohol or fluoxetine and opioids together should receive treatment for abuse of those respective substances. As stated previously, people who want to end the use of medically prescribed fluoxetine should do so under the supervision of their physicians. Prozac should be tapered gradually until a person can function without the drug with no withdrawal symptoms.

The longer a person has taken Prozac, the longer it will take to taper off the medication. In some cases, this may take months or even over a year. It is important to remember that as Prozac is tapered, the symptoms that the medication was used to treat may return. A person who used fluoxetine for major depressive disorder may experience symptoms of depression again. People with obsessive-compulsive disorder may experience more intrusive thoughts.

These symptoms should be monitored and managed if they occur. In some cases, a person may need to discuss the pros and cons of ending fluoxetine use with their physician, as ending the use of the drug may be worse than staying on it. Prozac should be administered once a day, either in the morning or the evening. It is only available in an oral formulation available in liquid form, tablet, and capsule and started at a dose of 20 mg per day.

Keeping in mind that this medication can be efficacious at doses of 5 milligrams and weigh in one side effect profile.

Examples include diazepam and lorazepam. C an F luoxetine G et Y ou H igh? Yes, you can get high while using Fluoxetine. Many users have reported euphoric effects following the administration of Fluoxetine even though getting high on the drug is considered to be fairly rare. In fact, only about 0. Fluoxetine exert its action by increasing the amount of serotonin, a natural substance in the brain, serotonin is responsible for mood, appetite and sleep.

Additional symptoms of an overdose involving Prozac and alcohol include:. Read more about how Prozac and alcohol interact. Most people who overdose on Prozac make a full recovery without complications.

How soon you receive medical treatment also plays a role. Taking too much Prozac, especially with other medications or recreational or illicit drugs, also increases your risk of a serious condition called serotonin syndrome. In some cases, serotonin syndrome is fatal. Your doctor will start by taking a look at your vital signs, including your blood pressure and heart rate.

This can lead to withdrawal symptoms, including:. If you need to stop taking Prozac, work with your doctor to come up with a plan that allows you to slowly decrease your dose while your body adjusts.

You can also overdose on lower levels of Prozac if you mix it with other medications, recreational or illicit drugs, or alcohol. Mixing Prozac with other substances also increases your risk of a fatal overdose.

If you think you or someone you know has overdosed on Prozac, seek emergency medical treatment to avoid complications, including brain damage. Prozac and Zoloft are drugs used to treat depression and other conditions. Sexual side effects, like erectile dysfunction, are common complaints of taking antidepressants. Most prescription antidepressants are part of a drug….